Question 7: Final comparison

Here i have answered question 7.

Question 6: Different technologies

Photoshop:

Contents image

I used photoshop to edit ,change brightness and contrast + saturation etc, on the original photography. i did this because the original photos werent as hard hitting as i wanted them to be.
one tool i used in particular was the burn tool (details of which can be found in a post made on the 24th of Jan 2011)
I also used a filter, called 'cutout' on the image featured on my contents page, after converting it into greyscale.

Illustrator:

Album cover

I used illustrator to create my masthead, as illustrator is specifically designed to create vector graphics which enables me to apply the masthead to any Photoshop/Indesign document and rescale it without the image becoming pixilated. (details of the creation are also posted on my blog on the 24th jan)
Another example of the vector graphics used within my magazine is the album cover used on the DPS. i traced over an existing image of a button and created a logo for the band upswitch.

InDesign: 

columns

Linking text

I used In Design to form my magazine. i dod this because within the magazine industry they use this program to create their magazines aswell. They for the template and place all the the information within that for each different issue. I also tried to replicate this within my magazine front cover, DPS and contents page.

Within the Indesign document you can create columns and also it will automatically put gutters in so the text doesnt over lap. you can also link text boxes so the text you have written flows freely through all of the spaces.

Prezi: 

I have used a prezi as part of the evaluation process to answer questions 2 and 4. i have done this so that my evaluation is interactive and uses new technologies within the media world.

Flikr: 

i have used Flikr to display all of my original photography as it is a fast and easy way of displaying al of my photos. i can also gain audience feedback as the veiwers can comment on them.

Question 1 : music mag comparison

for the first part of question one i have compare a kerrang cover to the cover of my magazine.

for the second part i have compared my DPS with a DPS from kerrang.

Diary Entry

Today i also answered question 3 of my evaluation.

Kerrang podcast

Evaluation: Question 3

There are two main publishing companies that produce Music magazines. These are Bauer Media (http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/) and IPC Media (http://www.ipcmedia.com/).
I have previously researched the company IPC and you can see the case study on my blog.
Bauer Media seems to be the most involved when it comes to music media as they publish Kerrang!, Q and Mojo. However they also produce various music tv stations including 4Music, Kerrang! and Q.
Therefore i feel that if my magazine were to be published by Bauer Media it would have more success than if it were published by IPC.
Above is an example of of a podcast produced for Kerrang magazine by Bauer media...

Bauer media also have a website which sells tickets (http://www.aloud.com/) therefore all of the media outlets are covered by this one company therefore my readers would be able to watch and read about their favourite bands and also buy tickets to go and see them.

Diary Entry

Today i have finished working on my prezi and have answered questions 2 and 4.
Here is a link to my prezi...

Media Studies Evaluation on Prezi

Diary Entry

This week I have started to work on my evaluation. i have found a new way of presenting my evaluation in the way of a Prezi.
i started to answer questions 2 and 4.

Diary Entry

Today I took part in activity where everyone in my class put a section of their work up on the screen and we went around the class choosing one thing which was good about the piece of work and one that was bad and writing those points on a piece of paper.
i chose to display my front cover because although it was my strongest of the 3 pieces of work there was just something i wasn't sure about.
After completing this task there was a resounding view that my cover was too 'plain' and people couldn't tell which of the cover-lines was the main story. Also some of the text was hard to see. So i changed those aspects of the front cover. i then added a barcode etc to make it look more like a magazine cover.
Another thing i added was smaller pictures so the readers could see what was in the actual magazine.

We then received our work back from provisional marking and there were a few slight bits i needed to change throughout the work to make the articles/tag-lines link together more. as well as adding a barcode onto the front cover.
on the contents i added some scribbles around the album cover in the bottom left corner, i also added another which linked to my DPS. Another thing i changed was the colour of 'UpSwitch' on both the front cover and contents page. i did this because it then linked with the colours on the DPS.

After changing those few things on the contents i started on the DPS. The main thing that was mentioned other than the page numbers was that the title of the article was too cramped in the top left corner. to combat this i moved the image to the right slightly and then re sized and moved the text around so it fitted around the picture more. i then moved the quote to the right so it fit on the guitar neck.

Diary entry

Today i finished my double page spread. For the content i interviewed my friend Pete and used the answers to form my article.

I then printed my front page, contents and double page spread for provisional marking.
After printing my work i realised i hadn't included a barcode or issue information on my front cover so when i get it back to do final tweaks i shall add all of that information.
Also on the contents page there is a grey box around the word 'contents' so i will remove this as well.

Diary entry

Today i have finished off my contents page by re arranging the position of the images and also converting the background image into black and white.

I then started creating my double page spread by adding the base image in and placing a film strip over the top. I then created an album cover for the band upswitch to add into the film strip along with other images.
Next lesson i need to finish off the double page spread.

Diary entry

Today i have started creating my contents page. i chose the image but around the faces of the people the image was slightly blurry so i used an effect called 'torn paper' to create a mono print style image.
i have then started compile everything together like a contents page but i have found it is starting to look just like my front cover.
a fellow class mate told me to add more contents information to the page, this will hopefully make my contents look more like a contents.
i could also try desaturating the background image which will make the information stand out more.

Diary Entry

In today's lesson i have added more to my photoshop file (scribbles and a strapline).
i have also created all of the cover lines and all i have to do to my front cover now is add a price and a barcode.

next lesson i will finish those little bits and then start on the contents page. Here is an image of the front cover as it stands.

Creating a Masthead

As i already knew what the name for my magazine was going to be, all i had to do was create a masthead that reflected the style of my magazine.I started off by creating an illustrator file and then i wrote the name of my magazine in a font that i had previously chosen (One Way) i then used the 'create outline' tool, which changes the text from editable writing into an object.

I then ungrouped the text so i could move every letter individually. This enabled me to create more space between the letters in the word 'metal'. i was also able to cut the 'stalk' off of the 'h' so i could replicate it and make it a capital 'H'.

This is the text after i spaced out the word 'Metal'

The next thing i did was create a basic exclamation mark to put under the type. i did this by creating a simple triangle and circle. i then changed the stroke style to 'charcoal' and increased the size to 40 pt.

The next thing i did was import it into my photoshop file containing my main image. after doing this i found that the 'm' wasnt striking enough so i increased the stroke around it and imported it again.

once the Masthead was imported into photoshop i placed it onto the photo as a vector smart graphic which enabled me to create a drop shadow, which i then edited to the angle and thickness that suited the cover.

Editing my chosen image

Top icon- Sharpen
Bottom icon- Burn

Here is my chosen image. I imported it into photoshop and adjusted the brightness and contrast so that the hair of my subject is a lot more vibrant.
i then used the burn tool so that her eye make-up was a lot darker, i also used the burn tool on her lips so the colour matched the colour of her hair.
i also used the sharpen too on her nose peircings because without editing they just appeared as a bulr.

Photos for Music mag

within the last week i have taken the photos that i will be using for my music magazine.
after taking the photos i have decided to use a picture of a female on the front of the magazine instead of two men.
However i will still be using the same idea for the double page spread.


Here is a link to my flickr, in which all of the photos i have taken are featured.

Diary Entry

Today i finished my proposal and i also took some photos for my magazine as well as my friend's magazine.
next lesson i will use the studio to take some more photos for my magazine.

Diary Entry

Today i have produced a questionnaire and passed it around to people to see whether they buy magazines on a regular basis, how much they are willing to spend and also their favourite genre.
I have also started writing my proposal for the music magazine.

Music Magazine Proposal

The genre of my music magazine will be metal as this is my favourite genre of music. Also the current selection of magazines out that cover this genre have become more and more mainstream which has alienated those who enjoy listening to more underground bands. Therefore my magazine will be targeting those who like to listen to new/up and coming bands as well as the underground scene.

The title of my magazine will be Metal Head. I have chosen this name as it clearly states the genre of music the magazine is about and also it is similar to that of a well known metal band (Machine Head). However it has previously been used as a video magazine.

As part of the Music magazine task i will have to take at least 4 original images to use on the cover, contents and double page spread of the magazine. I hope to use an image of a solo artist for the main image on my front cover as my double page spread will be an interview with this person.

My cover lines will be : 'Guitar players and their guitar face'
'Fender vs. Gibson'
'Exclusive coverage and interview from private UpSwitch gig'
Here is in example of an existing cover line similar to one i have chosen to use:


My double page spread will be an interview with the lead of a band called UpSwitch. I will use images of the lead to fill the space around the text and i will also use a large heading to the article just like this:

Here is a link to the Band's Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/upswitch_band

Audience research

As part of my research i decided to create a questionnaire to see what peoples preferences are when it comes to music magazines. I passed this to 10 people and asked the to fill it in.

Four of the people i handed it to bought a music magazine on a regular basis. Three people brought NME; which is sold at £2.30, and is a weekly magazine. Two of the three people listened to indie/rock music which is mainly what the magazine features. However one people preferred listening to R&B/Pop.
The forth buys Kerrang! which is also a weekly magazine and sold at £2.20. They also listen to indie/rock music which shows that there are many magazines that cover the same genre.
All the other people who answered the questionnaires, didn't buy a music magazine regularly. They also mostly answered the 'up to £5' option when asked how much they would pay for a magazine. This makes me think that a magazine has to be cheap enough to buy on a regular basis. Also they all have different opinions when asked their favourite genre. therefore there may not be enough music magazines to cover such a wide range of music.